Southwest Pediatrics

Truth be told, I don’t understand the negative reviews. Since my daughter was born (she is now 4), we’ve always been treated kindly and quickly. As another fellow reviewer stated, peak illness seasons and other factors can’t be used for examples because they aren’t like that every single day. My daughter is rarely sick, but I am always able to get her in same day. I’ve called when they open or during the middle of the day. My mother has even been able to take my daughter to SWP. It was really minor, but being the only grand baby, my mother worries about everything. Anyway, I called and my mother was able to take her in. No big fuss. Always clean and always flexible. I couldn’t tell you how many friends and family members I’ve recommended to SWP. A couple instances where our insurance was changing, one of the factors in picking an insurance company was whether or not SWP accepted the insurance. Yes, we love this place that much!

I love my baby’s Dr here. She has dr amin, who I would refer to anyone! I completely trust her judgement on anything and everything, and she is kind enough to call And check on her even when she has just a cold. The staff is amazing and very professional as well. They have jumped through hoops to get us in because we live so far away. All in all this is the best pediatric clinic in bakersfield.

I want to update this review because I have seen some negative reviews that are more recent, citing doctors who don’t work here and/​or people complaining about wait times during peak illness times when all medical resources: emergency rooms, urgent cares and pediatrician offices are busy. It’s important for parents to know these reviews aren’t representative of everyone’s experience at all.
Simply put, no practice is perfect. These people are pretty close. After four years, I can say that they take their job seriously and if they can’t address something, they will refer you. That might include an ER or urgent care. It might include a specialist visit. I have gotten solid recommendations for specialists and fit in when necessary to address immediate issues. This means the same day and on weekends. Even when I don’t call five minutes after they open.
All of the doctors who have worked here during the four years I have gone here have been caring, committed to the welfare of my kids, and spent an inordinate amount of time with us. If I am waiting because they are spending time with another child, I am not complaining.
Also, I have never been given a prescription without sufficient explanation and my kid is on a lot of medications. If someone gave my kid medications, they check interactions and verify what he’s on.

Save yourself the trouble and find a new doctor. The doctor we saw there was snitty, shallow, and unforgivably incompetent. Wait times are insanely long (don’t bother scheduling an appointment around your baby’s nap or eating schedule because you will be there so long it doesn’t matter). She wrote two medications with the wrong dosages for my children (a very scary situation). She also dumps patients whenever she feels like it regardless of how long your children have been with her, leaving you with less than 24 hours notice to find a new doctor. Unethical, selfish, and basically the last person you want to trust with your children’s care. They NEVER clean the toys. It makes no sense to have a sick side and well side when they let all the sick kids go play with the toys on the healthy side. I brought my own clorox wipes and you wouldn’t believe the filth I got off of not only the toys but the exam tables around the paper. GROSS! They also advertise that they are open Saturday mornings but it’s next to impossible to actually get in unless you within the first five minutes of them opening. I got sick of being told to take my child to urgent care because they couldn’t get us in so I switched practices, best decision I ever made.

I use to love this office until they got super busy. The wait time has gradually increased through out the years. Also, if you do not follow the CDC vaccine schedule they will discharge you from their practice.

Whenever anyone asks who our pediatrician is, I let them know how wonderful Dr. Santiago is and how highly I recommend SW Pediatrics. From day one when she went to visit our oldest son in the hospital after he was born, I knew Dr. Santiago was great at what she does. She is a proactive pediatrician. We had suspicions that my son had some special needs at a very young age and instead of telling us not to worry about it and the speech with come eventually, she said that she saw what we did and immediately referred us out to a neurologist and to KRC for review. If it wasn’t for her proactive approach, I don’t know if we would have gotten the diagnosis and progress we have today. Anytime I need to have either of kids seen, they are able to get us in. Sometimes you do have to wait a little, but I don’t mind because I know the personal service that they give to each client. I have never felt rushed during our visit and feel that the doctors answer any questions or concerns we have. I love Dr. Santiago and love her bedside manner!

My daughter was bit by a spider and called me at school to pick her up because her throat was closing and she couldn’t breathe not a lot of other doctors took my insurance so I went here, and I told them her symptoms and STILL WAITED 2 AND A HALF HOURS TO BE SEEN. When she was seen, they asked about her allergy medicine. The doctor didn’t even look at her bite. The WORST doctor I have ever been to. If you’re taking your 5 – 8 year old go right ahead they always get priority over severe allergy attacks. HORRIBLE SERVICE WORST DOCTOR EVER.

Disappointment.
After waiting 45 minutes to be seen, I asked reception how much longer I should expect. «20−40 minutes, Dr is running a hour behind today» ummm, what?! How was I not called prior to showing up with a 12 month old? Or even told upon arrival? Needing to get my husband to the airport, I had to leave and reschedule. Unfortunately lengthy wait times are typical here. I like the doctors and techs– but the office is run really inefficiently.

I used to really like Southwest Pediatrics. However, with their practice growing it has gone extremely downhill. Their office staff is rude and acts bothered if you ask them questions. Although they have a sick side and well side it is a completely false sense of security because they do nothing to stop all of the sick kids that go over to play with the toys on the well side. Call me crazy but I brought a lysol wipe to clean those toys on the well side before my daughter played with them and you would not believe the filth that was on that wipe. They DO NOT CLEAN the toys. After I saw that I couldn’t help myself but to see what happened when I wiped down the exam room table and it was FILTHY as well. Apparently they just change the paper between patients and call it good. GROSS!
The wait times have gotten longer and longer which is difficult when I schedule a visit for my baby an hour and half before his nap and then by the time the doctor actually sees him he is fussy and exhausted because we waited over an hour! This has become the norm. The doctors take no interest in actually getting to know your child on a personal level and act rushed and irritated if you happen to ask any other questions.
It is IMPOSSIBLE to get a doctor to call you back to answer a follow up question. The «nurse» (which is actually an MA) will take your call and then call you back. However, most of the time they clearly didn’t actually understand my question and after several times going round and round I just give up and have to schedule another doctor appointment for something that I should be able to get a simple answer for. Such a waste of time, money, and exposure of my kids to more stuff.
Dr. Rao used to be great but she has taken on so many patients it takes weeks or months to get into her and she is becoming more and more like the other doctors. Doesn’t take the time to care, is bothered by extra questions, is rushed, and has long wait times.
One of the reasons we chose this practice was because they said they have sick visits on Saturdays. Whenever I have called on a Saturday morning they always say they are already full and to go to the urgent care. Pointless.
I have been disappointed with well visits also. They don’t give handouts with good information (the baby food handout tells you how many teaspoons of food to give your child a day… as if that is how you are going to measure it…), have never touched on car seat or other safety, and are giving outdated advice (e.g. there is plenty of research that you are not supposed to put rice cereal in a baby’s bottle and they still tell parents to do it).
Overall, I DO NOT RECOMMEND this practice as they seem to care more about dollars as they herd the kids through like cattle than they do about the actual health, well being, and happiness of the children.

I have been with SWP for all 3 of my kids and have seen Peds come and go. The practice has grown quite a bit. I would rate the Pediatricians here 4/​5, I have seen them all. I love love love Dr. Rao, she is attentive, sweet and very good at her job. She is awesome.
The front office staff is okay but as long as they do their job, which they always do, I don’t care that they don’t always have a smile on their face, they are very busy. The medical staff is always nice and kind, I have no complains there and they are quite efficient at vaccinating kids.
The waiting area is always clean and they have a sick visit and well visit waiting areas with different entrances. They are open Saturdays for a few hrs, I find this extremely helpful when you have sick children, I’ve been in Saturdays quite a bit.
You can access your childs medical records online. The office now has 4 Pediatricians to accommodate their growing number of patients but their growth goes to show that it is indeed a great practice to take your children.
Again I cannot say anything negative about the current Pediatricians there now and I cannot say enough positive things about Dr. Rao.

When we adopted our daughter from overseas and made her first dr appt here, Dr. Shah immediately took the time to assess the current health concerns from her country, scheduled all the necessary tests, evaluated her immunization forms to see what needed attention, and informed us of concerns ahead to watch for. We have had several health issues over the past seven years. Dr. Shah, Dr. Self and all their support staff have helped us with every one, referring out when necessary, and partnering with out-​of-​town specialists for local care as we can. We have always gotten in promptly and have always been dealt with courteously and professionally. Their new waiting room with well– and sick-​child areas is very nice. I love that even though my daughter’s life is filled with doctors, waiting rooms, and shots, she still always looks forward to seeing Dr. Shah. That says alot.

I have to wait 3 months for a physical on my child. Wow!
Dr. Shah is great! The practice is just getting too busy for my taste.
I called a few weeks ago because my child was sick and I was told if I came in today I would have to pay a walk in fee in addition to the regular office visit. That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. A cancellation fee yes, but an extra fee to be seen the same day.